Thanks to an article by Bloomberg, we now know that Hasbro is in the process of reevaluating its entertainment plans.

The article highlights multiple factors including the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic wreaking havoc on Hollywood box-office, and the passing of Hasbro’s former CEO, Brian Goldner, as the root causes of the reevaluation.

Mr. Goldner was also a part of the director board of Paramount Global (formerly known as Viacom CBS). His passing may have severed the tight connection between Paramount Pictures and Hasbro. At the moment, Paramount produces and distributes entertainment based on Hasbro properties such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, D&D, etc.

According to the article, Hasbro is looking at two options:

1. [Hasbro] can take the existing staff [at eOne] and redirect it to make branded entertainment (think “Peppa Pig” movies), and shut down work on projects like “Yellowjackets” and “Designated Survivor.”
2. [Hasbro] can sell everything it doesn’t want.

With the current 5-Year Agreement with Paramount Pictures coming to a closure at the end of 2022, Hasbro will also have to reevaluate the partnership on whether to extend or to let go.

CEO of eOne (a subsidiary of Hasbro), Mr. Darren Throop, will be stepping down at the end of this year as well.

According to Bloomberg, all will be announced at this year’s Investor Day.

You can check out the full article via Bloomberg.

While promoting his successful new movie ‘Bullet Train‘, martial artist and actor Andrew Koji (Storm Shadow) is constantly bombarded with questions about the commercial and critical failure of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins movie.

Being a gentleman, Mr. Koji’s response is quite mature in contrast to the same type of questions thrown at Christopher Eccleston (Destro, G.I. Joe: Rise Of Cobra)…

“I’m starting to see the balance between the business side and the art side. That was the thing with Snake Eyes, we were kind of going, “Who’s making the decisions here? What film are we making? Are we making a film for the fans? Because if it’s for the fans, surely we should do this and this and that.” I think sometimes some of the producers, they’re not making decisions that are based on integrity or the character’s integrity or the story integrity. They’re making it based just on money. It’s turned this industry and this whole streaming thing into this cog machine. I think maybe the films we grew up with were a bit more special. I’m sure there was still a bunch of trash there at the time. I’m sure. But I think it still feels a bit out of whack.”

When asked whether what he took as experience while working for Snake Eyes movie…

“What I hear is that it’s important to get on your feature-film thing as soon as possible. As soon as you get the thing, you do that because then you’re on some sort of list or you’ve got some pre-studio deal or something like that. So that was part of it. I did actually like Robert [Schwentke], the director. He’s definitely more of an actor’s director than a franchise or IP one. And I guess it did lead to Bullet Train, which then also led to the film I did with John Malkovich [Seneca – On the Creation of Earthquakes]. And then, I got the independent film I did after that.”

Mr. Koji also spoke of the constant conflict he had with the G.I. Joe Origins movie…

“Now, I’m a lot more relaxed. I see that doesn’t necessarily help. I’m definitely trying to enjoy the ride a bit more. But at the same time, as I’m speaking this out loud, I’ve been making notes about this and thinking about that. You don’t want to become too complacent. I remember that for Snake Eyes. Because of the script and a lot of the things going on, I was not sleeping. I was going, “How do I make this work, because this is awful? How am I going to do this?” So it’s that weird balance that I’m trying to figure out between ease and efficiency. I haven’t got the answer.”

And finally, he was asked whether he’d return to the G.I. Joe Franchise…

“I have no idea, man. We’ll see,” the actor tells us. “Someone might have to take that mantle over at some point.”

To the audience of the movie, Andrew Koji is arguably the best part of it. We wish him the best for all of his upcoming projects.

Skydance Media, which co-financed and co-produced Transformers and G.I. Joe live-action movies for Paramount Pictures, is moving away from the big mountain in favor of Apple.

However, it is stated that Skydance Media will still retain the rights to co-produce and co-finance Transformers & G.I. Joe franchises. But the terms of that are unclear at the moment.

This move will likely put pressure on the Viacom subsidiary to seek out a new co-producer.

Skydance Media’s last outing with a movie based on a Hasbro property ended up in a financial disaster with Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins only raking in just $40 million worldwide against a production budget of $100 million.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins will hit Japanese theaters on October 22nd. To celebrate the release, a brand new original song for the movie is performed by [appropriately named band] Ninja Kaigi.

Titled ‘Stealth Dive’, the song is inspired by the story of the movie. You can listen to a portion of the song, below:

President of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture Group (MPG) Emma Watts has resigned from her position in the wake of the departure of CEO Jim Gianopulos and other executives.

Emma Watts was instrumental in rebuilding Paramount, following the downfall of the studio in 2017. The tasks she did were second only to Mr. Gianopulos, and she was touted as the replacement of the CEO once he resigns. In 2020, she was appointed as the overseer of Transformers & G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchises.

Jump to the present day. ViacomCBS Chairman Shari Redstone surprised the entire company by naming Brian Robbins as the new CEO of Paramount Pictures. After what is reportedly a heated discussion, Emma Watts stepped down from her position which was quickly filled not by one, but two heads for the Motion Picture Group. Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek will now lead MPG as co-presidents.

At the time of her departure, Emma Watts was catering to Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Dungeons & Dragons among others.

Mike Ireland & Daria Cercek is to look after the G.I. Joe Live Action Movie Franchise as successors of Emma Watts.

The new CEO Brian Robbins stated the following:

“Paramount also benefited greatly from the deep talents of Emma Watts who, among so many accomplishments, helped build a terrific team at the studio, facilitated overall deals with top-tier talent including John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds, and shepherded a number of exciting upcoming projects including the latest film in the Star Trek franchise, the newest Transformers film, and a star-studded Dungeons & Dragons adaptation. We wish her nothing but success in her future.”

TFW2005 attended the Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference to learn more about Paramount’s future plans. Bob Bakish, the President and CEO of ViacomCBS, stated that in the future Paramount will send low-budget movies directly to streaming (Paramount+ service) while kids/family-friendly movies will see ‘day and day release’ (theatrical and streaming at the same time). Big budget movies will see theatrical release followed by a short window (45 days as opposed to 90 days) to their home release. However, Mr. Bakish stated that such plans may change in the future.

Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner, CFO Deb Thomas, and eOne CEO Darren Throop attended Goldman Sachs 30th Annual Communacopia Conference this morning.

During the event, Mr. Goldner stated that some toys will be delayed by a quarter due to prevailing logistic concerns. He explained that as an example, a toy that was supposed to release in quarter 3 will be pushed to quarter 4 (late 2021 – early 2022). However, the company did not specify which toys will experience this delay. On a happier note, Brian Goldner stated that they are seeing gradual ease in the situation. The toy giant is using all kinds of tactics including the usage of additional ports to circumnavigate the issue.

Also due to COVID-19 pandemic, eOne will evaluate Hasbro movie releases on a case-by-case basis. Some movies will release theatrically with a shorter theatrical window as opposed to the usual 90-days before hitting home video. Some will directly shift to streaming. CEO of eOne confirmed that Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts and the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons movie will see a theatrical release, but did not elaborate on the release window period (90 Days vs. 45 Days). However, Mr. Throop stated that a shorter window will benefit merchandise sales.

Brian Goldner stated that more entertainment content is on its way for properties such as Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, and Risk.

Paramount Pictures has sent us a press release; officially announcing their restructuring within the company.

As previously heard, Brian Robbins will take over Jim Gianopulos as the chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. Meanwhile, David Nevins will oversee Paramount Television.

However, in an interesting twist, Brian Robbins will primarily oversee films produced for Paramount+ streaming service, while David Nevins will oversee scripted series for the same platform.

It is also interesting that mentioning theatrical releases has taken a back seat on the press release.

Jim Gianopulos will remain as an advisor for the remainder of the year and the company had good things to say about him:

“During his time at Paramount, Gianopulos has been responsible for creating and restoring massively successful franchises including A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II, with more films in the works; Sonic the Hedgehog, with a sequel slated for release next year; Mission: Impossible – Fallout, the most profitable and critically-acclaimed film in the franchise, with the seventh and eight installments in production; the highly-anticipated Top Gun: Maverick; and Bumblebee, which marked a reinvigorated Transformers brand, returning the franchise to both profitability and critical acclaim. Additionally, Gianopulos rebuilt the popular Tom Clancy franchise across both film and television and was responsible for the award-winning 2018 hit Elton John biopic Rocketman.”

You can check out the full press release, after the jump.

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Paramount Pictures CEO Jim Gianopulos is set to step down from his position.

Following the underwhelming box-office yield of Transformers: The Last Knight and China’s clampdown on foreign investments, HuaHua Media left its partnership with Paramount Pictures at the end of 2017. HuaHua Media was supposed to fund 25% of the next two Transformers movies and 25% of all Paramount movies until 2020.

2017 was not a kind year for Paramount. That year, the movie production giant saw a loss of $445 million; where $100 million loss was from Transformers: The Last Knight alone.

Enter Jim Gianopulos.

Mr. Gianopulos took decisive action to turn things around for Paramount and it worked. At the end of 2017, Paramount Pictures entered a new agreement with Hasbro, where the toy giant would chip in more money to their movies but at greater creative control.

Such steps ensured the financial safety of Paramount and the company went on to produce critically acclaimed movies such as A Quiet Place and Bumblebee under the new leadership of Jim Gianopulos.

All things must come to an end and so does the tenure of Mr. Jim Gianopulos. We wish him the very best for his future work and we also wish his successor Brian Robbins, a wonderful stay with many Hasbro movies to follow.

On a closing note, Paramount has expressed their interest to drop big-budget movies in favor of smaller productions that will directly go on their streaming service Paramount+.

“What this is all setting up, according to insiders, is Paramount retreating from big theatrical productions to focus on titles – remakes, branded content, cheaper fare – that will service its streamer, Paramount+.” -Borys Kit, Journalist

There is a likelihood that this move may affect the pending renewal of the aforementioned agreement with Hasbro at the end of the year 2022.

You can also read follow-up articles for this development via Deadline and Hollywood Reporter.